There's nothing complicated about it. The Oso Easy rose series from Spring Meadow Nursery does not need fungicides. Your sprayer can take a 15-minute break.

The Oso Easy roses remained clean after four years without a single treatment, said Tim Wood, product development manager at Spring Meadow Nursery.

Growers and consumers will benefit from Oso Easy's resistance to blackspot and powdery mildew.

"We've got to have roses that are maintenance free," said Oso Easy breeder Chris Warner. "Pink Flower Carpet set the standard."

The Oso Easy roses -- Peachy Cream, Paprika and Fragrant Spreader -- were bred by Warners Roses in England. The series is part of the Proven Winners ColorChoice line. Oso Easy roses are available to growers beginning this spring and to retailers in 2008.

Peachy Cream

This low-mounding selection features peach flowers that transform to cream and stand out against the glossy-green foliage. The large, double flowers are self-cleaning. Bloom time is early summer to frost.

It grows 12-36 inches high, which makes it a good candidate for small gardens. It grows best in full sun and is hardy to USDA Hardiness Zone 5.

Paprika

Another low-mounding rose, Paprika's red-orange single blossoms are accentuated with a bright-yellow eye. New foliage emerges with hints of red and matures to glossy-green.

Paprika reaches 24 inches tall, grows best in full sun and is hardy to Zone 5. Bloom time is early summer to frost.

Fragrant Spreader

This groundcover rose provides an "enormous main flush" with single, pink flowers with golden centers, Warner said. "It is also blessed with a fragrance that can be detected from many yards distant."

It flowers from early summer to frost and is hardy in Zones 5-9. It grows 2 feet high and spreads to 5 feet. It grows well in many soil types and is a good choice for covering banks, large beds and commercial sites.

About the breeder

Warner became interested in groundcover roses in the late 1970s, and this type of rose is now a large part of the breeding program at Warners Roses.

"Our endeavor is to produce a free-flowering plant that needs no fungicidal spray," he said.

He began hybridizing roses as a hobby in the late 1960s, but was a full-time breeder by 1987 after taking early retirement as a teacher. In 1988 his rose Warm Welcome won the President's Trophy at the Royal National Rose Society trials. His other selection, Laura Ford, won a silver medal.

These were the first two of an eventual series of "patio climber," plants that reach 9 feet high and 2 feet wide with small flowers. Warner calls them "columns of color." He has since introduced dozens of roses, including varieties in the United States for Anthony Tesselaar USA, Jackson & Perkins and Weeks Roses.

—Kelli Rodda

SPECIFICS:
Name: Rosa x Oso Easy series.
Description: Disease-resistant landscape rose with glossy, dense foliage. Varieties include shrub and groundcover forms.
Bloom time: Early summer to frost.
Hardiness: USDA Hardiness Zone 5.
For more: Spring Meadow Nursery, 12601 120th Ave., Grand Haven, MI 49417-9621; (800) 633-8859; www.springmeadownursery.com.

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© 2007 Branch-Smith Publishing